


binary love

by bearer_of_light



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Banter, Cute, F/F, Fluff, It's not as bad as the first part makes it look, Lexa is God, Not literally but you'll get it if you read it, Some funny shit happens, bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 05:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16804717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearer_of_light/pseuds/bearer_of_light
Summary: What would you do if a bike hit you and knocked you off your feet?What would you do if the person riding the bike was a really cute blonde?What would you do if you saw that same cute blonde yelling at her bike in front of your apartment?What would you do if you never met her?





	binary love

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised..._ **

**_..._ **

Winters in Polis were always cruel to those who never knew how to appreciate them. Cold air cracking through the surface of one’s face and ripping lungs as if thousand knives took turns in making holes tiny as a breadcrumb was something not many liked or got used to. 

Lexa loved every second of it.

The warmth that would wash over her face every time she’d close the door and leave behind the coldness spreading and suffocating outside world. There was something purifying in the way cold air managed to sweep the head from your shoulder and the floor from your feet, the clear and straight and blue it gave to everyone that was ready to embrace it.

What she didn’t like was getting out of bed every morning at 6, when air was thicker than ice and when no warmth in the world would save her from the goosebumps she’d get every time she pulled the covers off of her body. 

It was 6 am on a Tuesday morning when she got out of bed with the warmest blanket she owned around her shoulders and left the warmth behind her. She headed to the bathroom and let the water in the shower run. Hot, skin boiling water. It was the only salvation cold mornings offered.

She jumped from one leg to the other, trying to keep some of the warmth embracing her just a minute ago. She crossed her hands and ran them up and down her arms. 

When every glass in the room got the right amount of foggy, a thing that was measured with her willingness to drop the blanket to the floor and stand naked for the short time it took her to get under the hot water. It was a short shower. A couple of minutes at most. Just enough for the body to reach the temperature that wasn’t going to make her shake like a leaf. 

Anya never understood that, Lexa’s need for hot water first thing in the morning when it was that cold outside. 

“It’s against every law of nature,” she told her one morning when they were still in college. Lexa had got out of the bathroom with a shadow of steam following her. 

“It’s not against my law.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“And you don’t have to.”

When she got out of shower, a minute later, and put on clean and warm clothes, she felt ready enough to go to different cold space. 

Her second favorite room in the apartment, with bedroom being the first, was kitchen. She spent countless hours rummaging through cupboards and never empty fridge. It was a place of many parties, for old people, like Anya always made sure to comment, and a couple of late night drunk escapades involving girls whose names Lexa could never remember.

On her way to the kitchen, Lexa stopped to pick her phone and watch from the nightstand. Her phone was silent, as per usual, and she didn’t bother looking at the watch. 

It was an old one. Her grandmother gave it to her when she was 12 years old. Some times, Lexa wondered how was it still working. 

Kitchen smelled like coffee and cookies. Lexa didn’t know or could find the source of the sweet sugary smell, but she didn’t care either. It smelled nice and that was the only thing that mattered.

She made coffee and sat on one of the chairs, with a hot cup in her hands. 

After the third sip she noticed something strange. Her watch was counting down instead of up. 

**_06:30:17_ **

**_06:30:16_ **

**_06:30:15_ **

She tapped her finger on it a couple of times, knowing fully well that wasn’t going to change anything. She thought time had probably caught up with it and made a mental note of taking it for, hopefully, a repair later that day. Late afternoon probably since it was supposed to be busy day with the big merger and with Anya bothering her to be present even though there was no point for her to be there. Something she made sure to tell Anya on more than a couple of occasions, but with no success. The important stuff was done a while ago, she was there when it mattered, first day of transition period wasn’t supposed to be as important. But when Anya was in question it was always better to listen than to try and have things any other way. 

**_06:27:37_ **

Time was still ticking down.

Even though it was so cold you could practically hear the trees crying as ice formed on their branches, Lexa still went everywhere she could by foot. It went well with her whole  _ I love winter _ schtick. 

It took her half an hour on a sunny day from the time she left her building to the time when she was sitting down in her chair in the office. 

When it was snowing it was closer to an hour. And when she left her apartment that morning it was just starting to snow. 

She made it half a block away from her building when she found herself face down in the snow with unexplainable pain in her left leg. 

“I’m so sorry,” Lexa heard through the haze of pain and numbness of her face still plastered in the snow. “Are you okay? Oh fuck.” Lexa tried to get up pushing herself up on her hands but as soon as she put the tiniest amount of pressure on her left leg she fell back. Her face again covering the fresh snow on the floor. “I’m gonna call an ambulance.” Lexa turned around to lie on her back when the whiteness of the snow was replaced with a pretty face hidden behind red scarf and black beanie. “Are you okay? Did you hit your head?” Lexa was too busy staring at the blue behind the lashes of the pretty blonde lunging over her. She blinked once, then again when she realized her pants are wet and she was cold and on the floor. She looked to her right and saw a bike. That was when it dawned on her.

“You hit me with your bike?”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” blonde immediately took a more defensive stand, leaning back and making the distance between them greater.

“You hit me with a bike and now I can’t get up.”

“I’m sorry.” Next to the red bike was a blue backpack, wet and dirty from the snow it fell into. “I’ll get you to the hospital.” Blonde got up on her feet and took the phone from the backpack lying on the floor. Lexa noticed the black smudges on her knees from when she was kneeling next to her. 

“There’s no need, I can-” Lexa tried again, and failed again, to get up. It only made things worse. Her leg felt like it was going to explode. It was pulsating from the ankle up. 

“Don’t do that,” blonde told her. “You’re just gonna hurt yourself more.”

“More than you’ve already hurt me?”

“I said I was sorry.”

“I have places to be.” Suddenly all Lexa wanted was to be in office listening to Anya yell at interns and be bored. What she didn’t want was feel the type of pain that she was feeling, the kind that was making her dizzy and on the verge of crying.

“And you think I don’t?”

“Maybe you should’ve been more careful,” Lexa frowned when she saw the blonde taking off her scarf, folding it around one of the books she took from her bag and giving it to Lexa. “What?”

“You’re gonna get sick on top of everything else, sit on this, it’s gonna be at least a bit less wet,” the blonde said. “And don’t move your leg, please.”

“That’s fine, you don’t have to do that.”

“Please.”

“It’s fine really.”

Blonde’s hand was still stretched up to Lexa’s face, with a makeshift pillow. “Are you always this stubborn?”

“Only when people nearly kill me.”

“Dramatic on top of stubborn,” the girl chuckled. “Please.” It was a smile that softened Lexa’s heart. “Thank you,” girl said after Lexa put the book and scarf under her.

“I can’t believe you ran me over with a bike.” Lexa became aware of how cold she was the second she wasn’t sitting in the snow anymore. The only good thing was that the feeling of immense cold replaced a fraction of the pain coming from her leg.

“I didn’t,” the girl shook her head. She put the phone back in the bag and crossed the hands on her chest. It was obvious she was cold. “I slipped and it was either you or that wall. You looked less dangerous.”

“That’s was your first mistake.”

“And what’s my second?”

Her eyes were blue like the frozen lakes she used to take Costia to. “Giving me your scarf. Now you’re the one that’s gonna get sick.” They were blue enough to distract Lexa from the ass freezing cold and head spinning pain.

“Maybe I don’t look the part, but trust me I’m pretty tough.”

“Sure,” Lexa said. “I thought you said you were going to call an ambulance?”

“My friend will come pick us up and drive to ER.”

“Your friend?,” Lexa said. “How do I know this is not a plot to kidnap me?”

“Seriously?,” the girl lifted her brows. She was now walking up and down sidewalk, from her bike to where Lexa was sitting. She must had been really cold, from the way she was pulling up the collar of her coat, Lexa knew she was missing her scarf.

“You can never be sure.”

“You can take a photo of me and send it to someone, or license plat- I can’t believe I’m saying this. You seriously think I wanna kidnap you?”

“You say it as I’m not worthy,” Lexa tried to hide the smirk.

“Are you sure you’ve hurt only your leg?”

Lexa chuckled, the blonde was funny on top of being pretty. “I’m just trying to make this situation less dry.”

“I think it’s anything but dry,” the blonde grinned. 

“I sure am wet,” Lexa returned the smile. 

A car then pulled up right next to where Lexa was sitting, saving one or both from the aftermath of Lexa’s comment. A dark haired woman got out of it.

“I can’t believe you ran someone over. With a bike. Only Clarke Griffin would do something like that.” She walked around the car and stood next to Lexa. “Octavia, nice to meet you,” she said looking down at Lexa.

“Lexa.”

“I’m Clarke,” the blonde said. “Nice to meet you.”

Lexa didn’t get the chance to enjoy the smile on Clarke’s face or the strange warmth that started slowly replacing the cold on her skin. “You can’t get up?,” Octavia asked her.

“Not really.”

“Clarke, you take her right hand and I’ll take the other and we’ll lift her up. You just lean on the leg that’s not the problem, okay?” Lexa nodded and after a couple of seconds Octavia was holding onto her left arm. Clarke was slower, as if more tenacious, but eventually she wrapped her arm under Lexa’s. It took them a while, but after a minute or so Lexa was sitting in the back of Octavia’s car and Clarke was next to her. 

“You should lift your leg up,” Clarke said.

“How?”

“Turn to the side and put it on my lap.”

Lexa shook her head to say no, “My shoes are dirty.”

“Can I take it off? It’s also gonna help with the pain.”

“What if you make it worse?”

“I won’t, I know what I’m doing.” Lexa arched her brow questioningly. “I was in the med school. Almost finished it,” Clarke said.

“But you didn’t?”

“Wasn’t for me,” Clarke smiled. “But I still know a couple of things. So will you please side sideways and lift your leg up.”

“Okay.” Lexa shifted in the seat and lifted her head up. It hurt a lot more now that she wasn’t in the cold anymore. 

“Okay,” Clarke took a deep breath in and started to untie Lexa’s shoe. “How much does it hurt?”

“I don’t know. A lot.”

“On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being you are dying?”

“7?”

“Are you asking me?” Clarke was looking at her but her hands were busy with carefully taking the shoe from the already very swollen foot.

“Are you trying to distract me?,” Lexa said.

“Is it working?”

“Maybe. Ouch,” Lexa yelped when Clarke’s hand brushed against her ankle.

“Sorry.” Clarke put the shoe down and slowly pulled Lexa’s sock a bit lower. 

“Am I gonna die?,” Lexa asked when she saw the look on Clarke’s face.

“You should live, but I doubt you’ll be walking as fast as you were any time soon.” Lexa pulled the side of the sock down but quickly gave up when it only hurt her more. “Your watch is not working,” Clarke said.

**_5:25:31_ **

**_5:25:30_ **

**_5:25:29_ **

“I know, something is wrong, I was planning to get it fixed later today but I think I should cancel all of my plans.” Lexa made a mental note to text Anya she wasn’t going to be able to come in that day. 

“That looks like some sort of a timer? Maybe you turned something on accidentally?”

“This watch is 30 years old, it has a display and numbers and nothing more, not even a stopwatch let alone timer.”

“Strange.” 

“Probably died for good and is counting down to its demise.”

“Are you always this optimistic?”

“Only after near death experiences.”

“I assume the dramatic part is a constant?”

“Depends on who you ask,” Lexa smiled. “It’s helping me not think about the pain that growing bigger and bigger.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already said that.”

“I know, but I really am.”

“I forgive you Clarke.”

Fifteen minutes later they were in ER. Clarke had called someone, a friend of hers who told her they were going to have to wait for a bit, snow season was a busy season. Lots of broken bones and broken heads.

**_03:40:39_ **

“What do you think will happen after that reaches 0?”

They were sitting in the waiting room for quite some time now and Lexa’s leg wasn’t getting any better. Her head was leaned back on the wall and her eyes were glued to the ceiling. There were still Christmas decorations hanging on the walls. “It will go to black? I don’t know, I hope it’s not a bomb,” she said.

“Always light topics with you,” Clarke chuckled.

“How did you spend Christmas?” The question made Clarke make a grimace signaling Lexa that that topic was no more light than the one with the bomb. “That good?”

“My mom likes to make a scene every time we are together,” Clarke said. “What about you?”

“Alone and the next day with some friends.”

“You’ve spent Christmas alone?”

“I’m not really into that.”

“Into what?” Clarke turned in the chair to face Lexa. “Fun?,” she teased.

“The whole Christmas thing.”

“I know what you mean,” Clarke sighed.

“You do?”

“I mean when I was younger I was all about it. No one was happier than me on Christmas day running down the stairs to open my presents.”

“But?”

“But I’m not running anymore.”

Lexa nodded. She smiled softly. There’s was something inside her pulling her to reach and touch, comfort someone who looked like they needed comfort. But she stayed and didn’t move. “Apparently I won’t be either.”

“Drama queen,” Clarke grinned.

**_03:01:42_ **

When they finally called Lexa in it took more than two hours before she again saw Clarke. Sitting in the same chair as before. 

“I told you you could leave,” Lexa said when she saw her.

“And I told you I won’t,” Clarke got up. “Crutches look good on you. What did they say?”

“It’s broken.”

“Again, I’m sorry,” Clarke sighed again. She looked more sorry than she should had been.

“It’s fine,” Lexa said. “They told me I could go.”

“Do you need me to go with you?”

“There’s no need, Clarke, really.”

“Are you sure, it’s no problem.”

“I’m sure.”

“You can’t walk around like that, it’s cold and slippery and you’ll fall again.”

“Need I remind you that I didn’t fall but someone pushed me.”

“You can’t say stuff like that and not expect me to apologize again and again.”

**_00:15:07_ **

“I promise I won’t do it anymore,” Lexa smiled.

“I’ll call you a cab and I’ll go with you until you are home or with someone else.”

“Are you asking or demanding?”

“Saying.”

“You like to boss around hm?”

“Only when others like to be bossed around,” Clarke smirked.

“Then boss on,” Lexa smiled.

**_00:00:57_ **

“It’s almost 0 on your watch,” Clarke said while they were outsides waiting for their ride.

“Exciting.”

“Can’t wait to see if the bomb will go off,” Clarke grinned.

**_00:00:17_ **

“Me too,” Lexa chuckled.

“There’s our cab.” Clarke turned around and in the process unintentionally pushed Lexa who lost her balance. Her crutches fell to the side and she felt herself falling forward.

**_00:00:02_ **

Last thing she saw was Clarke reaching her hands but failing to catch her in time.

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 20_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 2.1%_ **

Snow was falling for the third day in a row.

It was the type of morning people longed for, those made perfect for staying in bed, under covers, warm. 

So for Lexa it was an almost perfect morning. What lacked was the staying in bed part. 

She woke up at 6. Or at least that was the time on her phone. Her watch on the other hand was acting strange. When she first looked at it the big blue numbers said 

**_16:59:10_ **

Next second it was

**_16:59:09_ **

It was counting down instead of up. 

Her grandma gave her that watch many years ago so it wasn’t strange it was acting up. It was either the first time it didn’t work as it was supposed to. 

But it was the first time it was counting down.

Lexa tapped the display a couple of times and pushed buttons on the side but it didn’t react to anything.

**_16:57:17_ **

Regardless, she put it on after she came out of the shower.

**Lexa:** Is it really necessary I come in today?

She sent the message to Anya. It was the day of the merger. Lexa’s company had acquired another company, owner of several nuclear plants on the east coast. It was a done deal, signed and sealed. But Anya still insisted Lexa came in and be present in case of something going the wrong way.

**Anya:** You are the CEO and you are asking me that?

**Lexa:** It’s done, there’s nothing I need to do today and there’s nothing that could possibly go wrong. 

**Lexa:** And it’s cold. And snowing.

**Anya:** Get yourself a car and driver, like every other insanely rich person in this world.

**Lexa:** I like walking.

**Anya:** Then walk. But you are gonna be here. 

**Anya:** And don’t fall.

Lexa finished the coffee she had just made, took her coat and went out. 

Cold air sneaked under her skin the minute she walked out of the building. To say it was cold would be an understatement. Lexa liked it cold but there was a fine line between freezing and being cold. That day Lexa was freezing. 

Snow was still falling but a lot less than when she woke up that morning. Usually she had half an hour from her place to the company headquarters. Considering it was snowing and the ground was covered in frozen pools of melted snow, she knew it was going to take her closer to an hour. 

It was after ten minutes of careful mummy like walking when Lexa felt something hit her below ribs. She almost fell face down in the snow, but somehow she managed to stay on her feet.

“Jesus Christ,” she was ready to yell at whoever or whatever was the cause of her near demise when she saw a girl lying on the floor next to the almost ruined bike. “Are you okay?,” so Lexa opted for a nicer approach.

“Maybe.” The other girl, still on the floor, groaned and cursed when she saw her bike in ruins. “I’m sorry I hit you. It was either that or my head in that wall.”

“What happened?”

“I slipped, didn’t see ice back there.”

“Can you get up?,” Lexa offered her head and the other took it, holding tight until she was on her feet. “Are you hurt?”

The girl tapped a couple of times over her coat to get rid of the snow. “I think so.” It was the first time she looked up and Lexa saw the bluest pair of eyes she had ever seen. “Are you?”

“Almost a near death experience,” Lexa smiled.

“It’s the almost part that’s important.”

“That doesn’t look like you can drive it again, at least not anytime soon,” Lexa pointed at the bike

“Ugh I’m gonna be late for work.”

“You can always blame it on the near death experience.”

“You mean almost,” the girl grinned.

“Judging from the way your bike looks, I think you were pretty close, at least closer than I was.”

“I doubt my boss will take that as a valid excuse.”

“Do you want me to go as your witness?”

“You don’t even know what I do,” the girl smiled.

“I doubt you’re an assassin. I don’t think those ride around on bikes.”

“Maybe I’m still new and can’t afford something more assassin like.”

“My offer still stands.”

“You are too nice,” the girl said with a shy smile. “My name is Clarke.”

“Lexa.”

“Thank you Lexa and once again I’m so sorry for nearly giving you a near death experience.”

“You’ve certainly made my day a lot more interesting than it was supposed to be.”

“I am to please,” Clarke smiled.

“That’s good to know.” The smile turned to blushing and averting her eyes.

“I’m gonna call my friend, she has a car and she can help with this mess.”

“Okay, but I’m gonna wait with you.”

“You don’t need to do that. You look like someone who has better things to do than to wait with me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean Clarke?”

“You are wearing clothes worth million bucks.” It wasn’t what Clarke said, but the calmness and seriousness she said it with that made Lexa burst out laughing. “Tell I’m wrong.”

“It’s not million,” Lexa grinned.

“But close too.”

“Well you look like a million bucks so we are even.”

**_15:47:26_ **

Clarke shook her head and hid her eyes again. “This has been an interesting morning.”

“A nice change from my usual boring days.”

“Are you always so nice?”

“Only sometimes,” Lexa smiled.

Clarke looked at the phone, typed something and put it back in her pocket. “My friend will be here in a couple of minutes, she goes to some gym in the neighbourhood and she just finished and I don’t know why I just said all that too you.”

“It must something in my face.”

Clarke sighed and shuffled her feet. “Don’t pull my tongue.”

“Where do you work?,” Lexa asked. “I promise it’s not in a creepy way.”

“Coffee shop a couple of blocks away. Arkadia.”

“I’ve heard of it.”

“Best coffee in the district.”

“If I ever come around I promise to tell your boss you’re doing promo even when no one is around.”

“Tease.”

A car pulled next to them and one of the windows rolled down. “Get in, and get it in, I’m not getting out it’s freezing,” a girl said and then when she saw Lexa added, “Octavia, nice to meet you.”

“Lexa,” Lexa said before turning around. “Let me get that and you get in,” she stopped Clarke from trying to pick up the bike.

“You don’t have to do that,” Clarke said. “You’ll ruin your million bucks clothes.”

“I’ll get something more expensive,” Lexa chuckled. She picked up Clarke’s bike and put it in the trunk while Clarke got in the passenger's seat.

“Thank you Lexa and I’m sorry for all of this,” Clarke said.

“Not a problem.”

**_15:30:56_ **

It was a long day Lexa spent mostly being bored, spinning in her chair and pretending she was doing something of more substance and less childlike. 

But even when she wasn’t spinning in the chair, she wasn’t thinking about anything but the cute girl that almost sent her flying through the snow. 

“Is it creepy to go to some girl’s place of work?,” she asked while spinning in one of the chairs on Anya’s office.

“I can’t believe you’ve built an empire.”

“I’m serious.” When she was going around fast enough, the light on the ceiling made her feel like she was outside looking at the stars.

“Stop spinning.”

“Okay,” Lexa stopped and pulled the chair closer to Anya’s desk. “Is it creepy?”

“What girl and what place of work? Don’t speak in code.”

“I met a girl today. She’s really pretty and she works nearby.”

“When did this happen?,” Anya was chewing the top of her pencil. Distracted enough with Lexa’s strange sequence of words to forget about papers in front of her.

“This morning, when I was coming in. She almost hit me with her bike.”

“How cute.”

“I know.”

Anya rolled her eyes and put the pencil down. “Where does she work?”

“Arkadia.”

“Could you be more of a cliche?”

“What?”

“A lesbian falling for barista.”

“I did not fall for anyone,” Lexa pushed herself on her feet and pulled the chair in circle a couple of times. 

“Can you stop doing that?”

“It’s hypnotizing.”

“Like the girl?”

“Shut up.”

“What does she look like?”

“I won’t tell you,” Lexa sat back in the chair and leaned back. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sound of drilling coming from the floor above them.

“Because you are a cliche?”

“She has blue eyes, blonde hair,” Lexa paused, “and that’s about everything I saw. She’s funny though.”

“Blonde with blue eyes? Really?,” Anya arched her brow. 

“Really blue.”

“I think it’s good you are considering the possibility of seeing someone whose name you won’t forget the next morning.” Anya picked up her pencil and looked back down to her papers.

**_05:17:31_ **

Arkadia was this tiny coffee place, hidden and drowned between a lot bigger bars, with a lot more people. When Lexa got there a young girl behind the counter was the only person inside. She smiled when she saw Lexa.

“Food or drinks?,” she asked.

“Just coffee.”

“Just a second,” the girl, with Maya written on her tag, turned around. “Clarke!,” she called. “It’s my first day and I don’t wanna be the reason why you chose to not come back.” 

“That’s alright,” Lexa smiled. There’s was no need for anyone, other than herself, know that her heart made a backflip when she heard Clarke’s name.

Less than a minute after Maya called her, Clarke came from some room in the back. Her face lit up when she saw Lexa. And Lexa’s heart did a dozen more backflips when she saw Clarke, without coats and scarfs.

“Lexa,” Clarke said, “I mean, what can I get you?”

“I heard you serve best coffee in the district. Cup of that would be good.”

“Coming right up,” Clarke grinned. “You can go take a break,” she said to Maya who soon after left to where Clarke came from.

Lexa took off her coat and put it on one of the chairs next to her. She didn’t miss the way Clarke took a second too long to ogle. “Did you get in trouble?”

“Trouble?,” Clarke looked distracted staring at Lexa’s hands as she rolled up the sleeves on her shirt.

“Your boss.”

“Oh, that. No. It was okay.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

“I would ask you the same but I assume you do the bossing.”

“Everyone has a boss,” Lexa smiled.

“You do?”

“Maybe not me, but almost everyone,” Lexa said.

“You love your almosts.” Clarke chuckled and put a cup of hot coffee in front of Lexa. “My treat. If it’s not the best you’ve ever had then you have a lifetime supply of coffee of your choice from me.”

“Are you sure you are willing to commit to that?”

“Very.”

“I like a confident woman.”

“Then you’ll like me a lot.”

“We’ll see about that,” Lexa smiled as she took the cup Clarke put in front of her. 

“And?,” Clarke asked after Lexa took a sip of the coffee.

“It’s not bad.”

“Not bad?,” Clarke lifted her brow. “You love it.”

“I love it?”

“Yes.”

“How can you know that?”

“The glint in your eyes.”

“That’s always there,” Lexa smiled smugly.

“No it’s not.”

“Now you’re an expert on the glint in my eyes?”

“I think I can qualify as one.”

**_04:40:13_ **

They had spent next 3 hours talking about Clarke’s art and dropping out of med school. About the almost nonexistent relationship she has with her mother and her dead father. They talking about Lexa’s soar to success and dead ex-girlfriend.

Half an hour before closing hours Clarke sent Maya home and the last fifteen minutes Lexa spent helping her close, with much discontentment from Clarke. 

**_01:02:47_ **

“What’s your favorite color?”

“My favorite color?” They were walking from Arkadia to Clarke’s apartment. Even though Lexa’s was closer, she insisted to walk Clarke home. “We went through all the sad fact about ourselves and now you wanna know my favorite color?”

“I just need something to distract me from this cold. I can’t believe you made me walk in this. I can’t believe you are crazy enough to suggest it.” Clarke’s face was buried behind layers of clothes and scarfs. Clarke’s red and Lexa’s black.

“The blue that’s in the corner of your eyes,” Lexa flashed her an equally charming smile. “As for the cold, I like it, and I can warm you up if you want.”

“How?”

“My body heat,” Lexa put her left hand around Clarke’s back and into her pocket where she tangled her fingers between Clarke’s. 

“I don’t usually do this,” Clarke said after a couple of minutes.

“What?”

“Share body heat with people I’ve just met.”

“I don’t do a lot of things I did today with people I’ve just met.”

“I like you.” The bluntness of it was what took Lexa by surprise. “Didn’t want this night to end without me saying that,” Clarke said. “But don’t let it get to your head.”

“I might like you too,” Lexa said after pulling Clarke closer.

“You might?”

“I might.”

“You should give me your number when we stop walking.”

“I might.”

_ 00:02:39 _

“This was fun,” Clarke said after Lexa shoved Clarke’s phone back in her hand. 

“Very.”

“I’m gonna call you and then take you out on a date.”

“You sound very sure.”

“Text me when you get back home, please.”

“How will I do that when I don’t have your number?,” Lexa smiled.

“I’m gonna text you when I get home.”

You are something else, Clarke Griffin.”

“Goodnight Ms Woods,” Clarke leaned and kissed her cheek.

“Goodnight Ms Griffin, looking forward to that text.”

**_00:00:42_ **

Lexa turned around, with her hands in her coat when she heard Clarke call after her. “Lexa!” She looked behind and saw Clarke walking to her with black scarf waving in her hands.

**_00:00:10_ **

“Lexa!” She heard Clarke yell again, this time with panic and fear in her voice. Lexa saw lights before she turned around and saw truck heading straight her way. She raised her hands up as if that was going to diminish the impact and consequences. Last thing she saw was all zeros on her watch before everything turned black. 

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 1455_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 3.8%_ **

Never in her life had Lexa had trouble getting up in the morning. No scratch that. She never had trouble waking up. Getting up sometimes proved to be a bit of a trouble. 

Especially when the night was rough and the air over the covers was haunting with cold memories of someone else rolling in her bed. But on most days, cold memories hurt less than the warm ones and Lexa couldn’t wait to get out of bed.

Shower. Coffee. People.

That was the order in which Lexa took them every morning. 

Shower to wash away the cold and warm memories. Coffee to get her brain to working temperature. And then people.

**Anya:** Don’t forget I’m expecting you here today. 

**Lexa:** Why do you think you can boss the boss around?

While Lexa waited for the answer, guessing it was going to be a snarky response, one that only Anya was allowed to have around her, she went back to her bedroom to get the watch her grandma gave her, the one she never left the house without it on her hand since the moment she got it.

**_27:15:11_ **

**_27:15:10_ **

**_27:15:09_ **

“What the fuck,” Lexa mumbled tapping her finger on the display but the numbers didn’t change. “Just what I needed.” At the same time the phone she left in the kitchen beeped loudly. She put the watch on her hand, even though it obviously wasn’t working and went back.

**Anya:** Everyone has a boss. And you need someone to keep you in line.

**Lexa:** Funny.

**Anya:** It’s looking ugly outside, I think she’d understand if you didn’t walk today.

**Lexa:** I’ll be there.

She, the one Anya said would understand, was Costia Lexa’s ex-girlfriend. Dead ex-girlfriend. She never thought she’d have one of those, that the empathy she felt for those she’d hear the whispers about  _ “Oh yeah, her girlfriend died. It’s a really sad story. I feel sorry for her. She didn’t deserve it.” _ , was going to become her reality. She could always see the switch in people’s eyes when they’d find out that she is the one with dead girlfriend. Dead ex-girlfriend. The ex part was even harder to utter for the first time. Death you can’t escape, but the ex part is usually something you can control. But when you have to go from  _ “My girlfriend is amazing”  _ to  _ “My girlfriend is dead”  _ and finish it off with  _ “My dead ex-girlfriend”  _ it’s a hard thing to get used to.

**Anya:** Just be careful. It’s crazy out there.

Costia refused to go anywhere in any of a motor vehicle. 

“There’s hundred death per day, I’m not gonna be a number in some statistic,” she used to say.

“A car can still kill you even though you are not in one.”

“At least I’ll die being fit.”

Drunk driver hit her one day when she was going home from work.

**_27:00:00_ **

If you don’t count the tiny trail on the sidewalk, everything on the ground was frozen. Winters in Polis were long and cruel. Anya hated them and she wasn’t the only one. 

There was a girl a couple hundred feet in front of Lexa pushing red bike next to her. She looked anything but stable on her feet even though she was moving at the snail speed. It took Lexa a minute or so to catch up with her and catch her, literally.

“Oh my God,” she said when Lexa pulled her by hand seconds before she was destined to fall on the street. 

“Are you okay?,” Lexa asked when the girl looked steady on her feet again. She forgot she was still holding her hand. 

“Thanks to you,” the girl said. “Thank you,” she looked at Lexa with blue eyes and a half smile. 

“You’re welcome.” The girl leaned down to pick up the bike that fell practically on the street and slipped again. This time Lexa’s hands were on her hips, holding her to not fall. “You don’t look like you are used to walking on ice.”

“Metaphorically, yes. Literally, not really.”

“Let me help you,” Lexa smiled before adding, “that is if you can stand on your feet for a couple of seconds without falling.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Lexa leaned down and lifted the bike, she put herself between it and the blonde girl. “Where are you headed?”

“Work,” the girl said.

“I mean location wise.”

“Oh, yeah, silly me,” the girl chuckled. “Arkadia. It’s a coffee shop just out-”

“I’ve heard of it, I’m going that way too,” Lexa said. “I’d like to help you get there in one piece, if that’s okay with you.”

“Oh, I don’t wanna be a bother really, I should manage.”

“I really don’t wanna be responsible for your possible demise,” Lexa grinned when the blonde started to laugh. “I’m serious. I was walking behind you for less than a minute and you had almost kissed the ground on more than one occasion.”

“Okay then.”

“I’m Lexa, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Lexa, I’m Clarke.”

“Nice to meet you Clarke.” Lexa was pushing Clarke’s bike with one hand and had the other in her coat. Clarke was still looking anything but stable on her feet. “You can hold onto me,” Lexa said.

“I don’t wanna be responsible for our possible demise.”

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Lexa bumped her elbow on Clarke’s hand until she hoooked it under Lexa’s. “You’re not from around?”

“Because I don’t know how to walk on ice?”

“Maybe.”

“I actually am, it’s just not my day.”

“But why the bike though?”

“I’m much better on it than on my own feet. But like I said, not my day.”

**_26:27:26_ **

“Is this a little bit weird for you too?,” Clarke asked after a while. “I mean I’ve fell many times and a lot of people just walked by, you’re the first to offer a hand. Literally.”

“When I see a pretty girl in trouble I can’t help myself.”

“Thank God I’m pretty then.”

“Otherwise you’d probably be somewhere in the snow yelling for help and no one would stop to help you.”

“Optimistic.”

“My middle name.”

**_26:15:01_ **

Arkadia was a small coffee shop not far from Lexa’s company building. 

“I hope goodness of your heart didn’t cause you too much trouble,” Clarke said when they turned the corner and were a hundred feet from Arkadia. 

“I’m just around the corner,” Lexa smiled. “Do you need me to walk you in?,” she smirked.

“I think I can manage,” Clarke laughed and took the bike from Lexa. “Thank you, again. You have free coffee whenever you want.”

“I might cash in on that, I heard it’s the greatest in the world.”

**_21:17:58_ **

“What got you in seventh heaven?”

“Hm?” Lexa spent the day holed up in her office. Like she anticipated, there was no need for her to be there. Everything ran like a well oiled machine.

“I know you like the clouds but how about you spend some time on the ground?,” Anya rolled her eyes.

“How poetic of you,” Lexa shifted in her seat and focused her attention on Anya. They were having lunch in the restaurant across the street. 

“You look… what are you thinking about?”

“You remember that lake we used to go to sometimes? The one Costia loved.”

“The one that is frozen for like 6 months a year?”

“How do you call that shade of blue?”

“What?” Anya looked at her confused. She put the fork from her hand down.

“It was really blue around this time of year. Do you remember?”

“I remember it being blue.”

“I met a girl today with eyes as blue as that lake.” Lexa stared at the half empty glass of water next to her plate. 

“Oh.”

“Don’t oh me,” Lexa went back to her food to avoid Anya’s quizzing look. 

“It’s a good oh,” Anya said. “Where did you meet her?”

“Forget it.”

“C’mon Lex, I’m just surprised. It’s not every day that you talk about some girl’s eyes.”

“On my way to work this morning.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Not the point,” Lexa stuffed her face with more food.

“So she is,” Anya smirked. “She must be out of this world to have you talking about her. Or thinking about her,” she said. “Did you get her number?”

“What? No.”

“Name?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Then we can find her.”

“Anya, please,” Lexa sighed. She drank the rest of the water and leaned back. “I know where she works,” she said while trying to hide her smile.

**_17:54:12_ **

“My knight in shining armour,” Clarke greeted her with a big smile that grew even bigger when Lexa got closer.

“I thought it would be good to check if you’ve made it inside in one piece.”

Clarke stepped back a bit and spun around. Letting Lexa look at all the things that were hidden behind layers of clothes when she saw her that morning. “Am I?,” Clarke asked stepping back closer to her.

“Looks good to me.”

“You dropped the pretty,” Clarke smirked.

“I thought I’d save something for later.”

“You plan on having a later?”

“Is later something you can have?”

“My later is free,” Clarke bit her lip giving Lexa a chance to see the type of later she was thinking about.

“How about a coffee first?”

“Coming right up,” Clarke smiled before turning away to work the coffee machine. It gave Lexa a chance to take off her coat and look around. There was a couple sitting at the table near the door and an older man on the other side, next to the big painting of a night sky. 

“That’s nice,” Lexa said looking at it. It covered half of the wall and wa filled with colors Lexa never knew existed.

“You like it?”

“It’s hypnotizing. If that makes sense.” Lexa looked back at Clarke and the cup of coffee she had just put in front of her.

“Thank you,” Clarke smiled softly and then explaining when she saw Lexa frowning. “I made it.”

“You made that?,” Lexa gawked at her. “You paint?”

“You look surprised.”

“I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“I’m full of surprises, you just wait.”

“Is that part of the later?,” Lexa asked looking at Clarke over the cup she lifted up. It smelled like her house used to smell like on Sunday mornings, when her parents were home and spent the morning drinking coffee and reading papers. 

“Maybe,” Clarke offered only promises. “How’s the coffee?”

“Out of this world.”

**_15:02:32_ **

“Before you go I wanna give you something as a present for saving my life and making me laugh so much,” Clarke said after Lexa announced she should probably go home.

“You don’t really have to.” 

“Shhh, I wanna.” Clarke took a napkin and pen from under the counter and started to draw something on it. Lexa tried to sneak a look. “Don’t be impatient. Good things come to those who wait.” After a few minutes Clarke handed her the napkin. It was a drawing of Lexa smiling at someone standing next to her. And a number scribbled in the upper right corner. “The number is for the later part.”

“Thank you,” Lexa smiled. She carefully folded the napkin and put it in her coat. “For the now and the later.”

“My pleasure.”

**_10:43:58_ **

Lexa forgot to take her watch to someone to look into it.

**_00:10:20_ **

Lexa was in the process of sending the text that was promising to change her life, or at least a big chunks of it. She spent hours the previous night and then again that morning staring at the numbers neatly written in the corner of the white napkin Clarke gave her. 

“Just woman up, it’s a simple text,” she said to herself. “Just a girl and just a text.” She usually wasn’t that bad at persuading herself to do something. “Fresh air, that’s what you need Lexa. Maybe the wind will blow the numbness out of your head.” She put the napkin on the table next to the window and opened it. The cold air immediately swept her off of her feet. It was at least 10 degrees colder than the day before, or maybe it was just the wind that was giving the impression of it.

Just as Lexa was about to close the window and dial the number a wind swept the napkin in the air and out the window. “Shit.” Lexa quickly put her coat and boots on and ran outside. She flew down the stairs and out the building. She found the napkin no far away. “Just great.” It was completely ruined. The snow smudged the blank ink to unrecognizable streams of black on white. 

**_00:00:13_ **

Lexa was on her way back inside whens he saw a truck heading her way. She stood frozen in time and place when the numbers turned to zero.

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 278541_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 0.8%_ **

Sometimes Lexa stayed in bed 10 minutes too long and missed the girl with red bike.

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 341120_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 5.8%_ **

Once, or twice, Lexa took her watch for a fix. But no one could ever find what was wrong with it. 

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 478141_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 1.8%_ **

Other times she never went to the coffee shop where the girl with red bike worked.

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 687222_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 10.8%_ **

Then dots started to appear on her watch. One would disappear for every 48 hours.

**_Reboot in progress..._ **

**_Recalibrating…_ **

**_Primary operation compromised;_ **

**_OPTION 687222_ **

**_Status: Active_ **

**_Chance of survival: 11%_ **

“Let me take your coat.” Lexa never even dreamed her day would end with her saying that to a girl.

“It’s so warm in here,” Clarke, that was the girl’s name said after she gave Lexa her coat. 

“Just because I love winter doesn’t mean I love being cold.”

“Full of surprises.”

Lexa met Clarke earlier that day. First thing in the morning as a matter of fact. Lexa found her in front of her apartment, cursing her red bike and the blown front tire. 

“Do you want something to drink? Or eat?” Lexa walked to the kitchen and opened one of the cupboard hanging over sink. “I was thinking wine,” she took out too glasses and looked at Clarke.

“I won’t say no that,” Clarke roamed around the open space of Lexa’s apartment, stopping in front of framed photos hanging on the wall. Lexa walked up next to her and handed Clarke her glass. “Well that’s a full glass if I ever saw one.”

“I like my glasses full or empty.”

“I assumed,” Clarke smiled and turned back to photos. They were mostly of nature. Blue lake. Green forest. And a couple with Costia in it. “She’s beautiful.”

“She was yes.”

“It must have been hard, for you, I mean, when that happened,” Clarke fumbled with her words not knowing if she should look at Lexa or at the wall.

“It was, but it’s okay now.”

Clarke smiled and quickly turned around, continuing her exploration of Lexa’s apartment. Or that one room they were in. She went from one corner to the other before settling on the couch. A couple of seconds later Lexa joined her. She hadn’t really thought about the meaning behind inviting Clarke up and inside. She did it impulsively, as if something and someone was telling her she had to do it. As if her life depended on it. And now that Clarke was there, sitting so close, she started to panic. 

“I can leave,” Clarke must have sensed or saw the panic. Probably both.

“No, no, I just… I don’t know, but you don’t have to go, I don’t want that, that much I know.”

“You haven’t really thought this through, have you?”

“Maybe not,” Lexa laughed nervously before Clarke took the glass out of her hands and put it on the coffee table next to them.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Your eyes.” Clarke lifted her brow, amused with the answer she probably wasn’t expecting. “I mean that color,” Lexa quickly tried to retract her steps. “There’s a lake I used to go a lot to, it’s the same color as your eyes. I never thought I’d see anything that color again.”

“But then I came in,” Clarke smiled.

“Or your bike.”

“God bless it.”

“We don’t have to do anything,” Clarke said a while. “That’s not why I’m here. That’s not really my thing,” she added. “But you are cute and sometimes look like an excited puppy so I had to say yes.”

They spent the night talking and watching movies until Clarke fell asleep on Lexa’s shoulder.

**_First dot disappeared on the day of their first date. There were 8 more left._ **

“I gotta say I’m surprised,” Anya said to a nervous wreck that was Lexa an hour before her first date. “I’ve never seen you this nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,” Lexa insisted for the fourth time in as many minutes.

“Sure you’re not.”

“I’m not.”

“What I don’t get is why? You’ve spent all your waking hours since you’ve met her talking to her. Relax a bit will you.”

“I’m not nervous.”

**_Second dot disappeared when Lexa woke up in Clarke’s arms. There were 7 more left._ **

“Good morning,” Clarke whispered in her ear.

“Shhhh, sleeping.”

“No you’re not.” Clarke slowly ran her hand down Lexa’s side and up her stomach. “I think you are very much awake,” she said when she felt Lexa’s abs tighten under her fingers. “As a matter of fact you’re the one that woke me up.”

“It’s just that you are warm.” Lexa pushed her ass further into Clarke’s crotch. “Nothing more.”

“And you’re making me hot,” she dipped her fingers under Lexa’s panties, “and bothered.”

**_Third dot disappeared while Lexa was waiting in snow for Clarke. There were 6 more left._ **

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Clarke dived into Lexa’s arms as soon as saw her.

“Did you miss me?,” she asked with her head still buried in the crook of Lexa’s neck.

“My bed was a lot less warm this morning.”

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” Clarke smiled and kissed her. “I’m all for making out in the snow but I’ll freeze to death if we don’t move.”

“Alright alright,” Lexa wrapped her arm around Clarke’s back and pulled her close to her side. 

“I’m counting on you to make me warmer throughout all winter.”

Lexa chuckled. “I can promise I’ll try.”

“That’s not an acceptable kind of promise. I want something that will be set in stone.”

“Nothing is set in stone,” Lexa said. “I could fall and break my neck.”

“Don’t say stuff like that.”

“You can either cry or laugh at the frailness of life. I think it’s better to laugh.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to talk about dying all the time.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I’ll tone it down,” Lexa said and kissed the side of Clarke’s head.

“What does your watch say today?”

Lexa looked at the mystery that her watch had become. No one knew why it was doing and behaving the way it was. “It’s back at 47 hours and something minutes.”

“So those dots really disappear every 48 hours? I wonder what will happen when it reaches zero with no dots left.”

“Maybe it will explode.”

“Again,” Clarke groaned.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Lexa laughed. “Stronger than me.”

“Well I hope it’s not a bomb,” Clarke said. 

**_Fourth dot disappeared while Lexa’s head was between Clarke’s legs. There were 5 more left._ **

**_FIfth dot disappeared while Clarke’s head was between Lexa’s legs. There were 4 more left._ **

**_Sixth dot disappeared while Lexa was on her way to work. There were 3 more left._ **

“She has you wrapped around her fingers,” Anya teased her over lunch. Lexa completely ignored her and continued to smile down at her phone. “It’s kinda adorable,” Anya thought that was going to get a reaction out of her friend. But she was wrong. “I could tell you literally anything right now and you wouldn’t care or hear because you are so in love with your phone.”

“I’m not in love with my phone,” Lexa finally looked up.

“Only with the person on the other side of it.” Silence was all Anya got as a response. “Wow.”

“We are going up to the lake this weekend.”

“You’re taking her to see your favorite color?” Lexa just shrugged. “I forgot how good happy look on you.”

**_Seventh dot disappeared while they were watching the sunrise from Lexa’s bed. There were 2 more left._ **

**_Eight dot disappeared while Lexa was watching Clarke sleep next to her. She dozed off not believing how lucky she got. There was 1 more left._ **

**_Last dot disappeared when they got to the frozen lake. There were no more dots left._ **

“It’s beautiful.” Clarke looked through the window of an old house they rented. It had the view on the lake and trees surrounding it. 

Lexa wrapped her hands around Clarke and kissed the back of her neck. “Not as beautiful as you.”

“Isn’t it too early to be corny?”

“Don’t act like you don’t love it.”

Clarke turned around and pressed her lips on Lexa’s. The kiss was soft, almost as soft as Lexa’s fingers in Clarke’s hair. “I have to tell you something because if I don’t I might explode.” Clarke closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on Lexa’s. “But you have to promise you won’t run away.”

“Why would I run away?”

“I love you.” Three simple words knocked the wind out of Lexa’s lungs. “I can’t hold it in anymore. You’ve filled my heart with such warmth. No one has ever done that. And I know it’s very early but I feel like I’ve known you for a hundred years and I’m gonna burst if I don’t yell it from the rooftops.”

“You are ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously in love.” 

**_24:00:00_ **

Their night was full of half whispered _I love yous_ and their morning was a blend of soft touches and breathy moans.

**_01:11:58_ **

“That morning when I found you cursing at your bike was the luckiest day of my life.”

Clarke smiled, wrapped up in Lexa’s arms, with no place she would rather want to be. “Of all the places in the world my bike decided to die right in front of you.”

“If I believed in destiny I’d say that’s pretty good proof of its existence.”

“A kiss from lady luck.”

**_00:10:45_ **

“You know I was serious when I said I wanted you as a personal warmer for the rest of my life,” Clarke said over breakfast. “No matter how long or short it is.”

“So now you can make jokes about dying but I can’t?”

“Yes, because you are not allowed to die,” Clarke said. “Ever.”

**_00:00:10_ **

“Clarke?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

**_00:00:00_ **

_ OPTION 687222 successful... _

_ Reboot not needed... _

_ OPTION 687222 is to be executed. _

* * *

* * *

_ The year is 2022. and the world is on the brink of a nuclear warfare. A.L.I.E., an artificial superintelligence has been tasked with calculating the chance for the survival of human race. _

_ In every simulation A.L.I.E. ran the future of the planet depended on one person’s well being. Lexa Woods proved to be the key figure in saving human lives and ensuring the nuclear war never comes to be. Keeping her alive meant keeping her company in safe hands and far from the hands of power hungry men destined to drive the planet into total destruction. _

_ Lexa Woods died in all but one scenario. _

_ Clarke Griffin was the catalyst, the one that saved her.  _

_ A.L.I.E. will make sure the OPTION 687222 plays out the way it was meant to be. Lexa meets Clarke, ensuring their safety as well as safety of every single being on Earth. _

**Author's Note:**

> And what about it?
> 
> ordinarklo.tumblr.com
> 
> (P.S. It was supposed to be utter devastation but I showed mercy)  
> (P.P.S. Shoutout to my gf she's the only reason I survived writing this)


End file.
